This invention relates to apparatus for use with cement trucks. More particularly, this invention relates to apparatus used to prevent accidental discharge of cement from cement trucks.
Cement trucks typically have chutes which are used to pour cement at a construction site. Cement residue may form on the chute after the cement is poured. This cement residue may accidentally fall out of the chute while the truck is returning from the construction site. This may be a hazard to drivers behind the truck and may form undesirable deposits on the roads.
In order to avoid the cement residue from falling out of the chute while returning from the construction site, the chute is often washed off at the construction site. A disadvantage of this method is that a cement patch is formed at the site. For this reason, many cities and towns have laws preventing this practice.
One device that attempts to avoid this problem is described in Lewis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,128, entitled "Concrete Mixture Chute Cap". This patent describes a flexible material, such as canvas, that is attached to the back of a cement truck's chute with elastic straps. This device has two main disadvantages. The first disadvantage is that since the cap is made of a flexible material, the weight of the cement residue in the chute may be so great that the flexible material of the cap will begin to sag and possibly fall off the end of the chute. The second disadvantage of the flexible chute cap is that since it is not securely attached to the chute, the flexible chute cap needs to be separately stored and may get lost.
It is desired to have an apparatus that avoids these disadvantages.